President Putin calls for revitalisation of mass sport and support for professional sport

Russian President Vladimir Putin considers it as a priority task to revitalise mass sports in the country and give proper support for the competitive professional sport. This was disclosed by Vladimir Putin in the course of the session of the Presidential Council of the Physical culture and sport.

Putin considers the problem of the mass sport revitalisation full-scaled and multipolar. The most important point in this problem is the development of the youth sports, Putin believes. Although, millions of children participated this year in the national youth sports competition, the necessity to open more sports schools and clubs still exists, Vladimir Putin stated. In his opinion, the most complicated problem is the absence of the school and street athletic competitions and he set the task to change the current situation, starting with schools.

Approximately 150 sport schools are about to be closed, Vladimir Putin said.

The Russian President believes that one establishment, either the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health or the State Sports Committee, cannot solve the current situation, therefore the municipal bodies should be also heavily involved.

"The health of the nation directly depends on the physical training and sport," the Russian President stressed.